“I’ve seen people die before.” Jay shrugged. “I’m a guard. So, you know, it comes with the territory. I’ve never seen a fey die. You’re gonna be my first one. Isn’t that something?”
Dave’s crying simmered down, but Hank held onto him.
“This is something you probably don’t know about me: I have killed people for Mark Caten, to protect Mark Caten. It isn’t something I’m proud about.” Jay sighed. “As a kid, I always dreamed about becoming a protector. I just never imagined my dream would get so corrupted. There are things that Caten has ordered me to do that I don’t want to do, but he knows what kind of weapon to hold to my throat. He knows the exact size and weight and make and color. He knows how to make me bend and kneel and break.”
“It isn’t just you.” Hank said. “It’s all of us. He has a way of figuring out people’s weaknesses. He can look at a person and just know where their vulnerable spot is.”
“I wish he were dead.” Preyuna said.
Jay gave her a sympathetic look, which she deliberately ignored. “We all do.”
Dave raised his head and rubbed his nose into his sleeve. “We should kill him. We should all get together Murder on the Orient Express style and all take a stab at him.”
Preyuna quickly shook her head. “If I kill him, I will never be able to return to my homeland. I’ll never see my harem again.”
Hank kissed away Dave’s tears. “If I try to kill him and fail, he’ll hurt you. He’ll hurt you and take you away from me.”
Dave ran his hand through his lover’s hair. “He’d do the same to you if I fail to kill him.”
Isellta struggled to breathe.
Jay held him as close as he could. “What else can I do, kid? How can I protect you? How can I comfort you as you die? What can I say? Tell me. Give me some sort of clue. Any kind of hint.”
Maelin spread her hand on Jay’s back.
***
I feel alone and out of place. They all have someone to comfort them.
I have no one.
Preyuna shuddered at the thought of going to Mark Caten for comfort.
That would be the very last thing I could ever want. I’d be dead before I could be that desperate for comfort.
I want my harem.
I want my lovely Nayla.
My Lignaya.
Eferena.
Harala
Boronao.
“Aish ka fae ma vae ni sie na, my harem. Vae ni sie na. Even if it’s only in my dreams.”
Do you all still think of me?
My Nayla, do you still cherish the memory of me? Do you count the days? Do you want me still? Do you miss me?
Or has my sister stolen your heart away?
Am I nothing to any and all of you? Am I a memory and nothing else? Have you all forgotten me?
“Robin, come.” she said softly. “Come and kill Mark Caten. Break his spell on us. Set us free. Come, Robin.”
Come.
Come.
Come, Robin.
ambroseandelsie 